My name is danah boyd and I'm a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research and the founder/president of Data & Society. Buzzwords in my world include: privacy, context, youth culture, social media, big data. I use this blog to express random thoughts about whatever I'm thinking.

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Contact Info

I wish that I could regularly engage in conversations with everyone, but that’s simply not possible for me these days. So, first off, my apologies.

Press:

Press-related questions should be sent to press [at] danah [dot] org. You should include your deadline, your phone number, what hours you’re available, a description of the article you’re working on, and what questions you wish for me to address. I do not schedule phone calls with print press but I’m happy to call you when I have spare cycles between meetings. I will do my best wrt radio/TV scheduling. I’m not always able to respond in a timely manner.

Consulting:

I am unable to do any consulting or private advising because of my role at Microsoft Research, paid or unpaid. I’m sorry.

Speaking:

I am available for limited speaking engagements but my schedule is painfully limited. Speaking inquiries should be sent to Leigh Bureau.

Students:

Much to my chagrin, I don’t have the spare cycles to help students with their research projects or term papers. If you’re looking for information on social network sites or Twitter, I keep a bibliography of others’ work here. You are also welcome to quote from my blog or my research whenever you’d like. Just cite it properly so that your teacher doesn’t think you’re plagiarizing. If you’re looking for advice on grad school, this might help.

Marketers:

Do not send me press releases or product announcements of things that you want me to blog about. I can guarantee you that I will not blog about them as a result. [See my Disclosure Statement.] I do not enjoy receiving spam from companies advertising their products.

Some Context:

I hate being unavailable to people. I work roughly 100 hours a week and am getting more and more behind as the years go by. I am simply unable to keep up with demands on my time let alone handle more requests. I feel extremely guilty about this, but it’s important that I push folks away so that I can continue to produce research and do the work that I do.

As much as this message is meant to discourage people from contacting me, I should note that there are situations in which I always welcome contact. I am an activist at heart and do my best to make room for actions that I think can change society for the better. This is why I respond to press, engage on policy topics, and am generally more available when I think that engaging could make a different in people’s lives. I may not have time for a long conversation, but I love interesting data or stories that people send me. I love receiving feedback on my work, especially if it’s critical. I love hearing from teens, teachers, and parents who are experiencing the things that I’m trying to document.

So if you think that you still want to talk to me, my email is: zephoria [at] zephoria [dot] org. In general, feel free to write to me but please understand if I can’t respond or if I have to say no to your request. I do my best but time keeps slipping away.